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For those of you, who missed out on watching the Michigan State vs. Maryland game, don’t worry; it’s bound to be on ESPN Classic. If you would have told me before the game that the Spartan’s floor leader, Kalin Lucas was going to miss the second half due to an injury, I would have said Terps win running away. I would have been wrong. Again, people (myself included) underestimated Tom Izzo’s ability to get the very most out of his team in March. The Spartans were without starter Chris Allen (he only played 4 minutes) and starter Kalin Lucas, who went down with an injury to his lower leg with about 2 minutes to play in the first half. Take any other team in the country minus two of their starters against Maryland in the NCAA tournament. Who wins? I’m serious now, even take Kentucky for example. Take John Wall and any other starter out of the Cat’s lineup. Would you pick them to beat Greivis Vasquez and Maryland? I sure wouldn’t. Let that sink in for a second so you can truly appreciate what the Spartans accomplished on a Sunday afternoon in Spokane.
I’m not going to try to recap this instant classic as words really can’t do it justice. So I encourage you to Google it and watch the last 3 minutes or so. Really great stuff. I did say before the game that MSU’s turnovers and their ability to crash the offensive glass would be two stats to keep an eye on. Well, the Spartans turned the ball over 18 times which allowed Maryland to comeback from a 16 point second half deficit. Michigan State’s ability to dominate the paint and hit the offensive boards hurt Maryland for much of the game. However, in the end it really just came down to one shot. Korie Lucious, that shot will be remembered by Spartan fans (and Maryland fans) for a long time to come.
Up next for Michigan State is Northern Iowa out of the Missouri Valley Conference and fresh of the stunning upset of the #1 overall seed Kansas Jayhawks. I’ll be back later in the week with a preview of this game as well as other sweet sixteen match-ups.
